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Xeroo

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Hi all.

I wonder who will be able to assist me. I matriculated 2007, and started working immediatly. I have now decided that I want to become a developer.

I need to decide shortly what will be the best way to obtain the neccesary education to enter the Development industry. Unfortunately, university is out for me as I really dont have 3 years to complete my studies.

Im thinking of doing java first and then doing my MCPD part time. I was looking around and I see there is quite a large number of companies looking for Junior Java developers.

I was looking at Cti, but luckily I stumbled onto an old topic regarding Cti wich has obviously taken them of my list.

Other institutes ive seen include :

CTU
Torque-IT
Vzap(Java)

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
 
Xeroo said:
Hi all.

I wonder who will be able to assist me. I matriculated 2007, and started working immediatly. I have now decided that I want to become a developer.

I need to decide shortly what will be the best way to obtain the neccesary education to enter the Development industry. Unfortunately, university is out for me as I really dont have 3 years to complete my studies.

Im thinking of doing java first and then doing my MCPD part time. I was looking around and I see there is quite a large number of companies looking for Junior Java developers.

I was looking at Cti, but luckily I stumbled onto an old topic regarding Cti wich has obviously taken them of my list.

Other institutes ive seen include :

CTU
Torque-IT
Vzap(Java)

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
I heard only good things about Vzap. I think they are pricey though.

You can have those "shortcut" certificates in the mean time, but I think you'll have to do a proper qualification in the long run IMO.
So you can get certified for now, but a 3-7 year qualification is not a waste of time/money at all. It will give you more points if you decide to skip the country.
 
I did VZAP back in '95 - good concepts, but pricey and not as highly regarded as in the past. I'm not sure what they teach in these days (it was COBOL when I attended).
MS certs are still highly regarded here in SA, so that's not a bad way to get started. Expect to be treated as a junior until you have some RL experience behind you though.
University degrees are still the best bet come middle management time, or top-level development positions, so get started on that one soon if you want to get to the top.

My advice would be to get programming right now - build a personal project, or get involved in an open source project - but do something that you can show as experience when the time comes. Do a small project for a charity that you can use as a reference - anything that keeps your hands busy that you can put on your CV. At the end of the day, companies are realising that experience is as much a draw-card as a piece of paper.

Oh, one last thing: never stop learning. Ever. Until you retire or switch careers. (Unless you're a COBOL monkey :p)
 
1. If you can get employment as a Junior Java developer, then why not get a Java cerification, which will surely be more relevant, and help more in advancing your position at that place of employment.
2. If you don't want to stay a Junior developer forever, and want to build a sustainable career as a senior developer or systems architect, then you're probably going to have to do a Computer Science degree part time. There are already quite a few of us here working as developers by day and doing UNISA at night.
 
Thanks for the reply's guys.

I started reading bout unisa and ill deffinatly do that part time. Obviously I need to start with something though.

I am really considering Vzap, but **** they are expensive! And the course is only 4 months, and its more than I expected. What institutes offer good training in the MCPD line? I phoned Torque-IT and the person helping couldn't really help herself. Today Ill try CTU, hopefully they can give me some advice.

My biggest challenge is just to get started, taking it from there is simple. I know I want a degree and doing it through UNISA seems like the best way.

Thanks again for the help. :)
 
i did vzap feb 2008-july 2008 - was recruited straight out of there and started first job as a junior developer on 1 sep 2008. i also have completed 2 years of a com science degree and on my 3rd at the moment.
only thing is in the 2 years that ive worked i havent touched java - hehe -- i moved onto to the microsoft stack. but the fundamentals i learnt doing the java course was enough to get me started.
 
Xeroo said:
What institutes offer good training in the MCPD line? I phoned Torque-IT and the person helping couldn't really help herself. Today Ill try CTU, hopefully they can give me some advice.

My biggest challenge is just to get started, taking it from there is simple.
Click to expand...

How good are you at learning and figuring out something for yourself?

To generalise, most of the best programmers are self-taught, and the reason for that is figuring out how to solve problems is what makes you a great programmer, learn that early on and your skillset will grow exponentially.
 
Personally I prefer to do things myself. Ive already started working with C#. Know the basics by now I guess. I agree with you saying the best way to learn is by solving problems, but will companies see it that way aswell? Obviously like some people said, getting a good portfolio is also very important.

I have considered getting all the material and do self study and just go write MCPD exams. Only problem is im not shure if I will be able to manage. Dont want to go and waste another 6 months doing self study and then realise that im stuck. Sure ill be able to source help from forums/google though..

Either way, whatever my decision is at the end, I will only start next year. So for now its me, C# and some books I bought :) Any beginner c# book recomondations? :D

Any further advice would be greatly appreciated! :)
 
Excellent.

Hmm, I cant recommend any C# beginner books from experience, the book I started with was C# Complete from Sybex, and I wouldnt recommend that. For every brilliant chapter, there was a crap one, looking back on it now after using C# for 3 years I see that.

Other than that I have the Microsoft MCPD books, which are excellent, but very difficult for beginners.

Right off the bat I would recommend Learning C# 3.0 from OReilly, just because it has a high rating on Amazon, and Liberty is one of the most respected authors in the industry, I have read some of his articles and other books, and he's very easy to follow. Otherwise, Essential C# 4.0 is also a good choice, but focuses a lot more on the language than the framework. Basically, just go through books at Amazon.com, find ones with high ratings, and see if they're available on Kalahari.

What C# books do you have at the moment?

I'm doing my MCPD at the moment, and I think that with enough grit and determination, you could pass it without doing a course, i.e. just using the self study books. You could always test yourself online at measureup before doing the exam, to make sure you're ready.
 
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http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Visual-2010-Step/dp/0735626707

Thats the one I got.

Seems like a good place to start. Hopefully doesnt get me going in the wrong direction :P

Ive stopped working now, so hopefully 10 hour days studying will be happening soon. Any other books that I can add to this one?

So now im not shure what the concensus is round this subject? Self study or course?

Still think I should try and go to vZap to get started off with. Obviously will be doing some training by myself.
 
Browsed the contents etc., looks like a superb book, great foundation, my advice: learn it inside out, upside down, left and right (but in a few months find a more difficult book to master). :)

Maybe someone else can tell you whether or not you need to do a course. Maybe the fact that you know you've done a course will give you confidence in your ability (and its something for the C.V.).
 
Don't write off University as a BSc is becoming more important for job growth. You can study via UNISA and this will take you 5-7 yrs. Not saying that you must not look at the options your interested in, just keep in mind that it might help you now but in 10yrs time your going to have to work harder than your peers who have degrees.

I've also spoken to a lot of HR departments the last few weeks (helping 2 friends get work) and they all come back with "No Bsc, no interview".

UNISA also offers a certificate course (2yrs) that can be used as credits towards a BSc. Great if you want to compliment your existing qualifications and not sure if university is for you.

But whatever you decided, go for it as education is one thing nobody can ever take away from you.
 
The good employers will want university qualifications but if you work hard at learning on your own: get some recognized certifications even if only through self-study, create LOTS of "proper" applications (not fooling around) to practice your skill and build the right attitude to what you're doing in the process. I'm pretty sure that once you're on this road, with some convincing many companies will be willing to interview you as a junior developer. You may not earn a load of cash from the beginning but with perseverance and hard work you'll soon be doing well for yourself. This is where I started in the industry: it's taken me just seven years of hard work and sponging knowledge from co-workers to get to my role as senior developer with a BSc degree (distinction). Basically the bottom line is that if really want to be a developer, you better be ready to work hard (and for now with little reward) to prove yourself especially considering you don't have that piece of paper yet. If you still feel it's for you I would strongly recommend that you begin looking now into starting a degree through UNISA (or other distance learning university) for January next year. Trust me all of this is possible if you're willing.

Out of interest, what honestly made you decide you want to be a developer?
 
I attended CTU and did the MCPD course during '08. I really enjoyed the learning environment, support and service.
I'm going to do my upgrade exam this year and next year hopefully the specialised MCPD course while working half day.

But truth be told, without constant studying you will fall behind in programming.

I'd say it's neccesary to be busy at least 12 hours a day with things regarding programming/development, even investing time over weekends.
Unfortunately, just as software gets outdated, even programmers who don't practice their trade and keep it up to scratch do too.

Good luck!
 
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